Other runners from Lubbock say they're 'OK'

Medical workers aid injured people at the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon following explosions in Boston, Monday, April 15, 2013. Two explosions shattered the euphoria of the Boston Marathon finish line on Monday, sending authorities out on the course to carry off the injured while the stragglers were rerouted away from the smoking site of the blasts.

Dale Cheatwood, a local Applebee’s manager, completed Monday’s Boston Marathon with a final time of 3:08:50.

His wife, Shawna, had kept up with the race until he crossed the finish, then continued about her day here in Lubbock.

It was the calm before the storm.

A few minutes later, a friend of the couple’s from Mobile, Ala., called her to ask if she was in Boston. The friend informed her of the explosion, and Shawna turned on the TV and waited for a phone call from her husband.

He called moments after the bomb went off, but not just to confirm he escaped the blast unscathed.

“He was running down the street wanting to know what happened. I told him to go away from the finish line,” she said. “He’s asking me which way to run, and I’m in Lubbock.”

Cheatwood escaped two bombs that exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring more than 130, the Associated Press reports. Fifteen of the injured are in critical condition.

Abilene native Isaac Bray lives in an apartment about three blocks from the scene of the explosion. He was at the finish line earlier Monday when the wheelchair participants ended their race.

A bit later, on his way home from the laundromat, he heard the first explosion.

“It was very loud. It echoed throughout the streets,” Bray said. “I thought it was out of the ordinary, but thought it might’ve been a truck. I heard the second explosion, and knew something was wrong.”

He noted that many Boston police officers wore yellow safety vests. After the explosion, he saw a “sea of yellow” and “lots of chaos.”

Police quarantined areas adjacent to the explosions, including Bray’s apartment building at the corner of Massachusetts and Commonwealth avenues.

“If people are coming out on the street, they’re very strict about going back inside,” Bray said, noting many of the runners were stopped near his apartment. “It took them 11/2 hours to let them all through. Finally, a sea of runners was allowed to go to the finish line.

“I think this is terrible. It really hit Boston at the time there’s the most people here. It’s such a great day of celebration. (The marathon) is really a great day for America. It’s a real shame and tragedy that this would happen today.”

Shawna Cheatwood said her husband was about a block away from the first bomb when it went off. Nearby cellphone towers went down shortly after their conversation, and she didn’t hear back from him by phone.

She did, however, see his Facebook status update that he was back in his hotel room outside the city, safe and sound.

“You would think I’d feel better but I kind of got a little freaked out,” she said. “I just still don’t feel comfortable.”

Cheatwood was among nine runners from Lubbock who participated in the race, according to the Boston Marathon’s official website. Eight of the nine reached the halfway mark, and seven of the nine completed the race prior to Monday’s explosion.

Jason Rehwald (3:08:14), owner of Rehwald Chiropractic Health Care in Brownfield, and his wife, Megan (4:10:13), also completed the marathon.

Crystal Lira — an assistant in Rehwald’s office — said she spoke with Jason after the blast, and as far as she knows, both are safe.

According to statistics, Megan’s finish time was about 30 seconds after the initial blast.

Eric Fisher completed the race in 4:21:07, and was on his way to a restaurant when the explosion occurred, according to his sister, Jennifer Banzet.

She kept up with her brother’s progress and turned her attention elsewhere. After finding out about the bomb through a text message, her focus quickly returned to Boston.

“I text messaged his wife. It took a couple minutes but she texted back he was fine,” Banzet said. “I talked with him by text messages. He’s probably being inundated with text messages wanting to know if he’s fine.”

Tammy Moriearty completed the race in 4:21:33 and was receiving her finisher’s medal when the first bomb went off, according to an email received by West Texas Running Club President Ron Lubowicz.

Texas Tech professor Paul Pare completed the marathon with a time of 4:13:36. His running mate and fellow professor, Dr. Jerry Dwyer, said Pare “sent a note on Facebook to confirm he is OK.” Dwyer added that participant Tammy Morlearty (4:21:33) “wrote to others” that he is OK.

West Texas Running Club Treasurer David Higgins confirmed the remaining Lubbock-area participants, Deb Hendley (2:16:32 at the halfway point), Brett Peikert (3:49:00) and Benjamin Tanui (no time listed), were not harmed in the blasts.